The Human Resource Function Essay Example for Free

The Human Resource Function Essay Heathfield (2007) defines Human Resource Management (HRM) as an organizational function; focusing on recruitment, management, and directing the people who work in the organization. HRM can hence be viewed as an organizational function that deals with the human resource â€Å"people who start and operate an organization, (Ramlall, 2003). Owing to the continuous political, economic, social and psychological changes within our societies, there is an increasing need for organizations to constantly evaluate their internal and external environment in response to the challenges and opportunities in the society; so as to remain competitive and to sustain organizational growth. This article examines the strategic role of Human Resource (HR) and its main practices, describes the outcomes of the respective category of (HR) practices and explains the critical reasons for measuring HRs efforts. The fundamental role of the HR to an organization is to â€Å"create value† (Ramlall, 2003) to the organization. It can hence be inferred that the critical HR’s role is to maximize profitability. Every organization, in pursuit of its strategic goals, must determine how particular HR practices correlate with improved business results and be more accountable for each major HR activity. This entails determination of the value of each HR activity in creating a competitive advantage for the organization. Without this, achievement of the organization’s goals and corporate missions may remain a dream that is never attained. There are many factors influencing change in organizational structure today. These factors include technological advancement, globalization, changes in workforce demographics, the elimination of bureaucracies in organizational structures, and the need to strike a balance between work and family issues. Understanding the potential of an organizations resources and optimizing the output of such resources, given the changes, provides an impetus for HR to become the key source of creating the competitive advantage for the organization. It is the role of the HR to build a competitive organization though strategic management of human resources, management of firm infrastructure, management of employee contributions and management of transformation and change. This can be summarized as â€Å"defining the deliverables of work† (Ulrich, 1997). This entails going beyond the strategic business partner role to becoming a player in the business. Ulrich, (1997) identifies six roles of a player in an organization. The player coach, designs, construct, creates followers, plays the rules and changes the organization. This ensures that the functioning of the organization is directed towards its goals. An effective HR personnel acts as a â€Å"facilitator and a collaborator† (Brewster, 2000). As a facilitator, the HR will function as an agent of change- providing rationale, support, and readiness for planned changes designed to support the business strategies. As a collaborator, the HR provides a link between the senior leaders and all employees to implement business strategies forming the strategic link throughout the organization. This is essential to the organization as it helps to maximize its profits. A research by Brewster, (2000) postulates that less than 10 percent of the 968 firms that participated in the study had a formal estimation procedure to measure HRM. This implies that most companies have little or no assessment of their HR department’s efforts and therefore they cannot give any quantitative measures of HRs value to the organization. Hailey, (1999) stated that the best way for HR to gain credibility in order to make meaningful changes is for practitioners to measure the cost and effectiveness of what they do. As such, the HR should be credible enough to lead the rest of the workers towards giving value to the organization. To achieve a competitive advantage, it is necessary to identify the skills that need to be developed internally for current employees and the fundamental areas of effectively managing an organization. The HR function has the most experience and knowledge in addressing these critical issues. It is therefore necessary for an organization to have an effective human resource that can efficiently achieve these vital objectives. The integration of human resources into the organizational strategy provides the basis for enabling the HR function to support and implement the strategic plan to achieve a competitive advantage, (Wofford, 2002). This strategy provides for the maximization of human capital, reduction of wasted and inefficient labor, and other financial investment, eventually to maximize profitability. An efficient HR increases the likelihood of more efficiently achieving the business outcomes and avoiding chaos, massive layoffs, crises resulting from not having skilled employees to carry out particular tasks and not having the right fit among employees, corporate strategies, and business environments, (Hailey, 1999). HR function plays a pivotal role in determining the business strategy through the assessment of the organizations capabilities to compete successfully through a particular strategy, determining the appropriate rewards system, determining appropriate organizational structures, and developing strategies to increase employee performance. All these work in achieving firm’s objectives and assessing the effectiveness of its strategic plan. Given the definition of strategic planning as how an organization will compete, the question arises as to how an organization would be able to assess the effectiveness of its strategic plan. Indicators of a successfully crafted strategic plan include creating advantages that are sustainable over a long period, (Ramlall, 2003). These include attainment of the organizations goals and objectives, the financial profitability of the organization, organizational positioning to create advantages for the short-term and long-term, and creation of a stronger sense of social responsibility. In essence, this process determines the decisions and actions an organization will undertake to create and sustain competitive advantage. It is evident that any organization that endevours to achieve a competitive advantage over its rivals and move towards its strategic goals is left with no choice but to have an effective human resource. The constant evaluation of the effectiveness of the organization results in the need for the HR professional to frequently champion change. Both knowledge about and the ability to execute successful change strategies make the HR professional exceptionally valued. Knowing how to link change to the strategic needs of the organization will minimize employee dissatisfaction and resistance to change. Only an effective HR can champion these important changes.

Diversification Is One Of The Growth Strategies Companies Marketing Essay

Diversification Is One Of The Growth Strategies Companies Marketing Essay Diversification strategy involves expanding organizations operations by adding markets, services or product to the existing business. The main aim of diversification is to allow the firm to enter lines of business that are different from existing line of business. If the new venture is related to the existing lines of business, then it is called concentric diversification. On the other hand conglomerate diversification takes place when there is no common line of strategic relationship between the fresh and old lines of business. (Thomas n.d.) Concentric diversification occurs when a company adds related products or markets. The objective of concentric diversification is to obtain strategic fit. Strategic relationship allows a firm to achieve synergy. Synergy is combining two or more parts of an organization to achieve greater total effectiveness together than would be experienced if the efforts of the independent parts were summed. Synergy might be obtained by combining companies with complementary marketing, financial, operating, and management efforts. Financial synergy can be obtained by combining a firm with sound financial resources but giving less growth opportunities with a firm having great market prospective but weak financial possessions. Companies try to stabilize income by diversifying into businesses with diverse cyclical sales patterns. Strategic relationship in operations will result in synergy by the balanced mix of operating units to increase overall efficiency. Overall efficiency can be improved by combining two or more units so that research and development or duplicate equipment is eliminated. Another way to obtain operating synergy is possible by Quantity discounts through combined ordering. Yet another way to increase efficiency is to spread into an area that can use by-products from existing operations. Management synergy can be obtained if administration expertise and experience is applied to different types of situations. The experience gained by a manager in working with unions in one firm might be applied to labour management problems in another company. Situations that appear similar may actually require significantly dissimilar management strategies. Personality clashes and other situational differences may make management synergy difficult to attain. Even though managerial understanding and skills can be transferred, individual executives cannot transfer effectively. CONGLOMERATE DIVERSIFICATION This is second form of diversification strategy. Conglomerate diversification occurs when an organization diversifies into areas that are not related to its current line of business. Synergy may be a consequence of financial resources or the appliance of management expertise; however the main purpose of this type of diversification is improved effectiveness of the acquiring firm. Little concern is given to obtain marketing or production synergy with conglomerate diversification. The main reason for adopting a conglomerate growth strategy is that prospects in an organizations current line of business are not that attractive. Finding an attractive investment opportunity requires the organization to consider options in other types of business. Companies also adopt conglomerate diversification approach as a means of increasing the growth rate of the companies. Sales growth may make the company more lucrative to investors. Growth will result in increase of the control and respect of the firms top executives. If the new area has development opportunities greater than the current line of business then conglomerate growth will be effective. But the biggest backdrop about conglomerate diversification strategy is the escalating in administrative related problems associated with operating unrelated line of businesses. Managers from different departments may have different backgrounds and may be hesitant to work together and bring out group efforts. Competition between different strategic business units for resources may include allocating appropriate resources from one division to another. These decisions may create enmity and administrative problems between the units. Carefulness must also be exercised in entering industry with apparently bright prospects, in particular if the management team lacks ability or experience in the new line of business. Without some understanding of the new industry, a company may be unable to accurately estimate the industrys capacity to perform. Even if the newly started business is initially successful, it will eventually face obstacles. Executives from the conglomerate will have to involve themselves in the strategies of the new venture at some point. Without sufficient skills or experience, the new business may face dead ends and threats of failure. Without some form of strategic fit, the joint performance of the individual units will not surpass the performance of the units functioning independently. In actuality, combined performance will come down because of controls positioned on the individual units by the parent corporation. Decision-making may turn out to be slower due to longer review periods and complex reporting systems. DIVERSIFICATION: GROW OR BUY? Efforts to diversify may be either internal or external. Internal diversification happens as a firm enters a different, but typically related, line of business but by developing a new line of business for itself. Internal diversification in a company generally involves growing a firms product or market base. External diversification may accomplish the same result; however, the company ventures into a new area of trade by purchasing another corporation or business unit. Mergers and acquisitions are common examples of external diversification. INTERNAL DIVERSIFICATION One way of internal diversification is to sell existing products in new markets. An organization may elect to widen its geographic base to cover new clients, either within its home country or in global markets. A business might also practise an internal diversification strategy by discovering new users for its current product. Finally, companies may try to change markets by escalating or declining the price of products to create them more appeal to customers of different earnings levels. Another way of internal diversification is to promote new products in existing markets. Normally this kind of strategy includes using existing channels of distribution to promote new products. Retailers frequently change product lines to take in new items that come into sight to have good market prospective. Johnson Johnson included a new line of baby toys to its existing line of things for infants. Packaged-food companies have furthered salt-free or low-fat options to existing product lines. Conglomerate growth through internal diversification is also a possibility. This strategy would involve promotion new and not related products to new marketplaces. This strategy is the slightest used one amongst the internal diversification strategies, as it is the most risky. It requires the company to enter a new marketplace where it is not established and the company develops and launches a new product. Research and development expenses, as well as advertising expenses, will likely be higher than if existing products were promoted. In effect, the investment and the possibility of failure are much greater when both the market and product are new. EXTERNAL DIVERSIFICATION External diversification takes place when a company looks external of its current operations and buys access to new marketplaces or products. Mergers are one general way of external diversification. Mergers take place when two or more firms merge operations to form one company, perhaps with a new name. These companies are usually of comparable size. The objective of a merger is to accomplish management synergy by building a stronger management team. This can be obtained in a merger by combining the management groups from the merged firms. Acquisitions, next form of external growth, happen when the purchased company loses its identity. The acquiring firm absorbs it. The acquired company and its property may be absorbed into an active business unit or remain together as an independent ancillary within the parent company. Acquisitions typically take place when a big firm purchases a smaller firm. Acquisitions are called pleasant if the firm being purchased is friendly to the acquisition. Unfriendly mergers happen when the administration of the company targeted for acquisition resists being purchased. (Thomas n.d.) Advantages and Disadvantages of Related Diversification: The advantage of related strategy is that expansion is easier because you already be on familiar terms with the industry you run in and you can leverage that knowledge. The drawback of this strategy is that if there is a cyclical downturn in the industry, company will feel the downturn in both the dealership and the detailing business. The blow will be severe. There may also be issues with incorporating two businesses, and with over-estimating the financial earnings. Advantages and Disadvantages of Unrelated Diversification: The benefit of buying an unrelated corporation is that companies decrease the risk of placing all your eggs in one basket and if the trade, or the industry, is hit hard by the market, or contest, or other success factors, then possessing an unrelated business may also help to offset the slump Why to invest in unrelated diversification? Companies may be able to invest in a new market or new product that has peaks when your business has valleys. Several businesses have seasonality highs and lows; if you can buy a business that has a high when your business has a tiny, you can compensate the low periods. (Advantages and disadvantages of Diversification n.d.) To diversify or not to diversify with respect to online companies To diversify or not to diversify is one of the trickier questions in front of Internet companies because the blockade to entry is so low for a lot of online business models.  The basic difference when it comes to online businesses is that the expenditure of moving into adjacent areas may be appreciably lower than in the physical world. Given the elasticity of the online environment, the tough question for companies is- What kinds of development are synergistic with the central part of business, and which are tangential?  It is ambiguous where Google, Amazon and Yahoo will end up with their diversification strategies. Amazon has been leasing out the infrastructure it has used to develop into an e-commerce giant. The company has chiefly two services, EC2, or Elastic Compute Cloud, and S3, or Simple Storage Service, that offer on-demand computing power and online storage, respectively. The services are sold as a usefulness where customers can purchase only the computing power or dat a storage they utilize. The pricing method at Amazon is fifteen cents per gigabyte per month for its storage service along with twenty cents per gigabyte for data transferred in and out of Amazons computing centres. Google has announced Google Docs and Spreadsheets, an online software suite that would compete with Microsofts Office. During the same time Yahoo has get hold of a series of firms such as Flickr, a photo sharing website, and del.icio.us, a website for systematizing and sharing web bookmarks, among others. However after this Yahoo senior vice president Brad Garlinghouse expressed grief that the company lacks a focused, unified vision. Due to a bevy of acquisitions, Yahoo might be challenging with itself in many areas such as photo-sharing and online video. Any acquisition needs to have some kind of profound business logic behind it. Amazon moved from books to electronics to apparel and now to data storage. Now the problem is whats their core competency? Is it Book sales o r e-commerce? If its e-commerce, maybe computing power is just an addition of its existing line of trade. The biggest downside for Amazon is that consumers will come to depend on the companys infrastructure. Tomorrow if Amazon wants to modify its systems, it cant since it will have consumers locked into its services. There is a vast downside risk here. Coming to Google it looks like Microsoft, a company that generates just about all of its earnings from one or two businesses. The online companies should think ahead before diversifying in to other businesses. At the same its not so advisable to stand still in internet business because competition is high and replication of business model is easier than physical world. But companies should keep certain things in mind before expanding their business like finding natural synergies that can lead to growth. (werbach 2006) CONCLUSION Diversification strategies help companies expand their operations in to different business markets. Companies also adopt diversification strategy to reduce the risk by moving in to several business areas. Concentric diversification occurs when a company adds related products or markets. Conglomerate diversification occurs when an organization diversifies into areas that are unrelated to its current line of business. The main aim of diversification is to allow the firm to go into lines of business that are dissimilar from current operations. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank our professor Mr. DM Sezhiyan, Department Of Management Studies, National Institute of Technology, Trichy for his encouragement and support throughout this work. He not only guided me but also helped me with the topic to understand, and communicate it to this paper. I would also thank Dr. M. PUNNIYAMOORTHY (Head of the Department), National Institute of Technology, Trichy who has been a constant source of motivation and support all through the work. Finally I would like to thank my family and well wishers for their boundless love and constant encouragement.

Selecting Appropriate Graphics for Web Sites :: Websites Internet Computers Essays

Selecting Appropriate Graphics for Web Sites In giving recommendations concerning appropriate images for a splash page of a website to a beginning web developer, it is important for graphics to be relevant to a website, diverse in gender, age, and race, and appropriate in the use of color. Using Relevant Graphics I would first suggest that all graphics should be relevant to the subject of the website. If a graphic is not serving any purpose at all, I would suggest not using it because some users may become annoyed at the unneeded use of graphics. This leads me to the two fundamental purposes of graphics which Dr. Palmer discussed in class on Tuesday, February 17, 2004. Along with my course in technical editing, I have learned that graphics have either a motivational or functional purpose. I would explain to the web developer that a graphic should either draw the attention of the user (motivational) or aid in the explanation of the text (functional). After thinking of these two purposes, it would then be appropriate to address the type of graphic and context in which it will be used. For a splash page of a website, I would recommend using a photograph or clip art graphic that is both visually appealing and defining of the subject of the website. I chose these two types of graphics because of their appropriateness to a universal audience. These types of graphics are usually both visually appealing and interesting. As Susan Hilligoss and Tharon Howard state in Visual Communication: A Writer’s Guide, â€Å"Readers take in a document’s visual design and images immediately. We apply lasting memories of images across the documents we encounter. Thus the design affects readers’ first impressions of genre, interest, and importance† (8). The graphic chosen will form the first impression of the reader, therefore, graphics must be chosen with much thought. Using Diverse Graphics When choosing graphics consider that websites can be accessed by all ages and races. For this reason, a web developer should consider the appropriateness of graphics and be prepared to accept the consequences if pictures are not appropriate for younger viewers. As was discussed in class, graphics must be diverse in both ethnicity and gender. Graphics must have an even dispersal of both males and females and must not be one-sided to any race. The web designer has to remember that the world is very diverse and not everyone is just like him/herself.

Bandag Automative Case Study Essay

1. Given Bandag Auto’s size, and anything else you know about it, explain why and how the human resource management function should be reorganized. Answer: Firstly, we recommend that Bandag Automotive form a new, separate Human Resources Unit that will be dedicated to the Bandag’s new strategy. Bandag Automotive does not have a business strategy, so the new Human Resource Unit will provide this statement, which will allow strategic human resources to operate: ‘Bandag Automotive’s business strategy is to achieve superior levels of customer service and high profitability through a highly committed workforce.’ Jim will no longer have direct HR responsibilities with the employees; everything will be handled through the new HR organization chart. The new HR manager will help formulate business strategies and policies and identify workforce requirements. Jim’s father has a lot of experience with the company and has created an excellent relationship with the employees. He will be a good advisor for the new HR manager. The new HR manager will have these tasks, pulled from the Department of Labor’s O*NET: * Serve as a link between management and employees by handling questions, interpreting and administering contracts and helping resolve work-related problems. * Analyze and modify compensation and benefits policies to establish competitive programs and ensure compliance with legal requirements. * Advise managers on organizational policy matters such as equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment, and recommend needed changes. * Perform difficult staffing duties, including dealing with understaffing, refereeing disputes, firing employees, and administering disciplinary procedures. * Plan and conduct new employee orientation to foster positive attitude toward organizational objectives. * Identify staff vacancies and recruit, interview and select applicants. * Plan, direct, supervise, and coordinate work activities of subordinates and staff relating to employment, compensation, labor relations, and employee relations. * Plan, organize, direct, control or coordinate the personnel, training, or labor relations activities of an organization. * Represent organization at personnel-related hearings and investigations. * Administer compensation, benefits and performance management systems, and safety and  recreation programs. The new HR manager with the help of Jim’s father, will survey the current employees to get to know them better and to prepare for job analysis. 2. Recommend what Bandag should change and/or improve upon regarding the current HR systems, forms, and practices the company now uses. Answer: Bandag should revoke all contacts with the external HR firm that had been hired previously. Now, the new HR manager will completely separate Bandag from the external agencies. He will have prepared the HR policies that work along with the company’s new strategy. All required forms will be internally generated. To ensure independence from the HR agencies, the manager will recruit two HR assistants to assist. One will be responsible for the recruiting, orienting, and training of new employee and employee advocacy. The second will be responsible for evaluating current employees, tracking promotions, proper counseling and firing of employees, and training current employees on new policies. Of course, the legal part of HR that Jim had many problems with will now be the responsibility of the HR manager. Finally, Jim, Jim’s father, and HR will evaluate the effect of the new unit on Bandag Automotive and its HR issues. The problems facing Bandag automotive result from a lack of a dedicated HR staff. Jim’s policies are not wrong, but they are applied in the wrong way. If the HR unit is not created it will lead to continuing problems and the gap between the employees and employer will be increased. In the end, poor HR management will give Bandag Automotive a bad reputation and will lead to a drop in quality, loss of customers and lower profit. 3. Jim fired an employee for creating what the manager called a poisonous relationship. Explain whether or not the employee has a legitimate claim against the company and the actions the company should take. Answer: Henry Jacques was fired because his manager reported that while he was doing the technical part of his job well, he had serious problems interacting with his coworkers and was making his store poisonous. Jim approved Henry’s dismissal. Though Henry’s manager had heard that he has a mental illness, he did not take that into account when evaluating Henry. Henry also never brought it to his management’s attention if he indeed has a mental illness.  In that case Henry does not have a legitimate claim against Bandag Automotive. He was warned in his performance appraisals that he had problems working in a team environment, and he never brought up the fact that he has a disability. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the employee must establish he has a covered disability. Also, we do not have enough information on Henry’s claim to know if this is his defense. We believe he was fired appropriately; however, the right thing to do in this situation was to first transfer Henry to another position and to give him a final warning. In this position, most of his work should not be on a team. If he continues to be problematic when working on his own, a discharge would be more appropriate. 4. Miriam, the controller, is basically claiming that the company is retaliating against her for being pregnant, and that the fact that the company raised performance issues was just a smokescreen. Explain whether or not the EEOC and/or courts would agree with her and the actions the company should take now. Answer: Miriam had been with Bandag Automotive for six years. She went on pregnancy leave for twelve weeks under the FMLA, and then received an extra three-week leave under Bandag’s extended-illness-days program. Miriam was recently fired by Jim because she had been turning her budgets in late and possibly forged some documents. If we assume that Jim’s claims are solid, he had a right to fire her for misconduct. We believe that her claim of wrongful discharge related to her pregnancy is unfounded. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), in our opinion, will not agree with her and will not fight the case on her behalf. In addition, she resumed work for three months after her leave, and may be angry because her request to adjust her schedule was refused. If she wasn’t happy with her schedule she could have quit. Bandag’s HR system failed here because a job description and contract could have prescribed specific working hours, which she would have to abide by. 5. An employee who is deaf has asked to switch jobs to be a delivery person and he was turned down. He is now threatening to sue. Recommend what the company should do and describe why. Answer: A truck maintenance employee who is deaf, applied for a job driving one of Bandag’s distribution trucks, and Jim directly turned him down because of his disability. We believe that the employee will win if he sues Jim, unless Jim can prove that the employee was denied because there were more qualified applicants and in no way because of his disability. Yet it is still pretty risky because the court system is very strict about the Americans with Disabilities Act. If the deaf employee can prove that Jim thinks that is absurd for a disabled person to drive a truck, he will win and cause monetary and public damages to the company. Our solution to mitigate the problem is to rescreen all applicants, including the employee to see if he is qualified for the job. If he is, offer him the job if he is still interested, and he will hopefully drop the case.

Free Essays on God Exist

One of the most predominate issues that is considered in the human mind today is of the question, "Does God exist?" Logically speaking there are rules, or more often called, laws that govern the way we act and think, one of such laws is looked at as the law of excluded middle. In this rule we basically identify that in some issues there is no middle ground, an object cannot both possess and not possess a certain trait or characteristic at the same time in the same fashion, either something is or it is not. The statement "God exist," is a precisely stated position. Thus, we recognize that it is either true or false. The fact is that one can not logically affirm that God does and does not exist at the same time, atheist believe that Gad does not exist, theist believe He does, and agnostic, exerts the idea that not enough information is available to make the decision. So who is right? Does God exist or does, he not? The only way to satisfy the question is to seek out and study the evidence, proving finally that God does indeed exist. Most predominate among the arguments of an atheist is the creation of the universe and that is self-created, however, the idea is simple improvable and discreditable by scientific reason. The fact stands that God is the Creator, and through Him all things are possible, being as it may God clearly created the universe and likewise everything in it. From this we gather that the universe either had a beginning, or it did not. However, all available evidenced indicates that the universe had a beginning. Since the universe had a beginning it had to have a cause, the universe is an effect, and by definition there is no effect without a cause. Nothing causeless happens. So Nicholas 2 then the question is asked who or what created the universe, (a) an existence before it, i.e., some eternal, uncaused First Cause, (b) is superior to it since the created cannot be superior to the creator; and (c) i... Free Essays on God Exist Free Essays on God Exist One of the most predominate issues that is considered in the human mind today is of the question, "Does God exist?" Logically speaking there are rules, or more often called, laws that govern the way we act and think, one of such laws is looked at as the law of excluded middle. In this rule we basically identify that in some issues there is no middle ground, an object cannot both possess and not possess a certain trait or characteristic at the same time in the same fashion, either something is or it is not. The statement "God exist," is a precisely stated position. Thus, we recognize that it is either true or false. The fact is that one can not logically affirm that God does and does not exist at the same time, atheist believe that Gad does not exist, theist believe He does, and agnostic, exerts the idea that not enough information is available to make the decision. So who is right? Does God exist or does, he not? The only way to satisfy the question is to seek out and study the evidence, proving finally that God does indeed exist. Most predominate among the arguments of an atheist is the creation of the universe and that is self-created, however, the idea is simple improvable and discreditable by scientific reason. The fact stands that God is the Creator, and through Him all things are possible, being as it may God clearly created the universe and likewise everything in it. From this we gather that the universe either had a beginning, or it did not. However, all available evidenced indicates that the universe had a beginning. Since the universe had a beginning it had to have a cause, the universe is an effect, and by definition there is no effect without a cause. Nothing causeless happens. So Nicholas 2 then the question is asked who or what created the universe, (a) an existence before it, i.e., some eternal, uncaused First Cause, (b) is superior to it since the created cannot be superior to the creator; and (c) i...

Freedom of Speech and Expression Essays

Freedom of Speech and Expression Essays Freedom of Speech and Expression Essay Freedom of Speech and Expression Essay Freedom of speech and expression The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1 adopted in 1948, provides, in Article 19, that: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. [1] Technically, as a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly rather than a treaty, it is not legally binding in its entirety on members of the UN. Furthermore, whilst some of its provisions are considered to form part of customary international law, there is dispute as to which. Freedom of speech is granted unambiguous protection in international law by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which is binding on around 150 nations. In adopting the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Australia and the Netherlands insisted on reservations to Article 19 insofar as it might be held to affect their systems of regulating and licensing broadcasting. The majority of African constitutions provide legal protection for freedom of speech. However, these rights are exercised inconsistently in practice. 1. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, provides, in Article 19, The replacement of authoritarian regimes in Kenya and Ghana has substantially improved the situation in those countries. On the other hand, Eritrea allows no independent media and uses draft evasion as a pretext to crack down on any dissent, spoken or otherwise. : One of the poorest and smallest nations in Africa, Eritrea is now the largest prison for journalists; since 2001, fourteen journalists have been imprisoned in unknown places without a trial. Sudan, Libya, and Equatorial Guinea also have repressive laws and practices. In addition, many state radio stations (which are the primary source of news for illiterate people) are under tight control and programs, especially talk shows providing a forum to complain about the government, are often censored. Also countries like Somalia and Egypt provide legal protection for freedom of speech but it is not used publicly. South Africa is probably the most liberal in granting freedom of speech, however in light of South Africas racial and discriminatory history, particularly the Apartheid era, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 precludes expression that is tantamount to the advocacy of hatred based on some listed grounds. Freedom of speech and expression are both protected and limited by a section in the South African Bill of Rights, 2 2. South African Bill of Rights, chapters 2 of the Constitution. Section 16 makes the following provisions: Freedom of expression (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes- (a) Freedom of the press and other media; (b) Freedom to receive or impart information or ideas; (c) Freedom of artistic creativity; and (d) Academic freedom and freedom of scientific research. Freedom of speech in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and by many state constitutions and state and federal laws, with the exception of obscenity, defamation, incitement to riot, and fighting words, as well as harassment, privileged communications, trade secrets, classified material, copyright, patents, military conduct, commercial speech such as advertising, and time, place and manner restrictions. Criticism of the government and advocacy of unpopular ideas that people may find distasteful or against public policy, such as racism, sexism, and other hate speech are almost always permitted. There are exceptions to these general protections, including the Miller test for obscenity, child pornography laws, speech that incites imminent lawless action, and regulation of commercial speech such as advertising. 3. First Amendment to the United States Constitution Within these limited areas, other limitations on free speech balance rights to free speech and other rights, such as rights for authors and inventors over their works and discoveries (copyright and patent), interests in fair political campaigns (Campaign finance laws), protection from imminent or potential violence against particular persons (restrictions on fighting words), or the use of untruths to harm others (slander). Distinctions are often made between speech and other acts which may have symbolic significance. Flag desecration has continually, albeit controversially, been protected by the First Amendment, despite state laws to the contrary. A Constitutional Amendment has been introduced to contravene the First Amendments protection on flag burning, but it has failed to acquire the requisite enactment by all the states. Despite the exceptions, the legal protections of the First Amendment are some of the broadest of any industrialized nation, and remain a critical, and occasionally controversial, component of American jurisprudence. The freedom of speech is regarded as the first condition of liberty. It occupies a preferred and important position in the hierarchy of the liberty, it is truly said about the freedom of speech that it is the mother of all other liberties. Freedom of Speech and expression means the right to express ones own convictions and opinions freely by words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures or any other mode. In modern time it is widely accepted that the right to freedom of speech is the essence of free society and it must be safeguarded at all time. The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum. Liberty to express opinions and ideas without hindrance, and especially without fear of punishment plays significant role in the development of that particular society and ultimately for that state. It is one of the most important fundamental liberties guaranteed against state suppression or regulation. Freedom of speech is guaranteed not only by the constitution or statutes of various states but also by various international conventions like Universal Declaration of Human Rights, European convention on Human Rights and fundamental freedoms, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights etc. These declarations expressly talk about protection of freedom of speech and expression. 4 Why to protect freedom of speech? Freedom of speech offers human being to express his feelings to other, but this is not the only reason; purpose to protect the freedom of speech. There could be more reasons to protect these essential liberties. There are four important justifications for freedom of speech – 1) For the discovery of truth by open discussion According to it, if restrictions on speech are tolerated, society prevents the ascertainment and publication of accurate facts and valuable opinion. That is to say, it assists in the discovery of truth. 2) 2) Free speech as an aspect of self- fulfillment and development – freedom of speech is an integral aspect of each individual’s right to self-development and self-fulfillment. Restriction on what we are allowed to say and write or to hear and read will hamper our personality and its growth. It helps an individual to attain self-fulfillment. 4. European convention on Human Rights and fundamental freedoms 3) For expressing belief and political attitudes freedom of speech provides opportunity to express one’s belief and show political attitudes. It ultimately results in the welfare of the society and state. Thus, freedom of speech provides a mechanism by which it would be possible to establish a reasonable balance between stability and social change. 4) For active participation in democracy – democracy is most important feature of today’s world. Freedom of speech is there to protect the right of all citizens to understand political issues so that they can participate in smooth working of democracy. That is to say, freedom of speech strengthens the capacity of an individual in participating in decision-making. Thus we find that protection of freedom of speech is very much essential. Protection of freedom of speech is important for the discovery of truth by open discussion, for self- fulfillment and development, for expressing belief and political attitudes, and for active participation in democracy. The present study is intended to present the provisions of the American and Indian Constitution which recognize the freedom of speech and expression, the basic fundamental rights of human being. It is also to be examined that what is judicial trend in interpreting the freedom of speech and expression provisions. The study also covers the Comparison between the approaches of both countries as far as freedom of speech is concerned. Freedom of Speech in India Freedom of speech enjoys special position as far India is concerned. The importance of freedom of expression and speech can be easily understand by the fact that preamble of constitution itself ensures to all citizens inter alia, liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. The constitutional significance of the freedom of speech consists in the Preamble of Constitution and is transformed as fundamental and human right in Article 19(1) (a) as â€Å"freedom of speech and expression†. Explaining the scope of freedom of speech and expression Supreme Court has said that the words freedom of speech and expression must be broadly constructed to include the freedom to circulate ones views by words of mouth or in writing or through audiovisual instrumentalities. Freedom of Speech and expression means the right to express ones own convictions and opinions freely by words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures or any other mode. It thus includes the expression of ones idea through any communicable medium or visible representation, such as gesture, signs, and the like. Moreover, it is important to note that liberty of one must not offend the liberty of others. Patanjali Shastri,J. in A. K. Gopalan case, observed,6 â€Å"man as a rational being desires to do many things, but in a civil society his desires will have to be controlled with the exercise of similar desires by other individuals†. It therefore includes the right to propagate ones views through the print medi a or through any other communication channel e. g. the radio and the television. Every citizen of this country therefore has the right to air his or their views through the printing and or the electronic media subject of course to permissible restrictions imposed under Article 19(2) of the Constitution. 5. Preamble of Constitution 6. A. I. R-1950 In sum, the fundamental principle involved here is the peoples right to know. Freedom of speech and expression should, therefore, receive generous support from all those who believe in the participation of people in the administration. We can see the guarantee of freedom of speech under following heads. Freedom of Press Although Article 19 does not express provision for freedom of press but the fundamental right of the freedom of press implicit in the right the freedom of speech and expression. In the famous case Express Newspapers (Bombay) (P) Ltd. v. Union of India court observed the importance of press very aptly. Court held in this case that â€Å"In today’s free world freedom of press is the heart of social and political intercourse. The press has now assumed the role of the public educator making formal and non-formal education possible in a large scale particularly in the developing world, where television and other kinds of modern communication are not still available for all sections of society. The purpose of the press is to advance the public interest by publishing facts and opinions without which a democratic electorate [Government] cannot make responsible judgments. Newspapers being purveyors of news and views having a bearing on public administration very often carry material which would not be palatable to Governments and other authorities. The above statement of the Supreme Court illustrates that the freedom of press is essential for the proper functioning of the democratic process. Democracy means Government of the people, by the people and for the people; it is obvious that every citizen must be entitled to participate in the democratic process and in order to enable him to intelligently exercise his right of making a choice, free and general discussion of public matters is absolutely essential. This explains the constitutional viewpoint of the freedom of press in India. Right to Information Right to know, to information is other facet of freedom of speech. The right to know, to receive and to impart information has been recognized within the right to freedom of speech and expression. A citizen has a fundamental right to use the best means of imparting and receiving information and as such to have an access to telecasting for the purpose. The right to know has, however, not yet extended to the extent of invalidating Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 which prohibits disclosure of certain official documents. Even, Right to Information Act-2005, which specially talks about peoples’ right to ask information from Government official, prohibits discloser of certain documents under u/s 8 of the Act. These exceptions are generally the grounds of reasonable restrictions over freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1) of Constitution of India. One can conclude that right to information is nothing but one small limb of right of speech and expression. 7 7. Right to Information Act-2005

Willy Lomans Evaluation as a Tragic Hero essays

Willy Lomans Evaluation as a Tragic Hero essays In his essay Tragedy And The Common Man, playwright Arthur Miller offers a modern definition for tragedy and a new criteria for the tragic hero. Due to his underlying struggle...attempting to gain his rightful position in his society, Willy is a perfect example of Arthur Millers idea of a tragic hero (Tragedy 228).Willy exemplifies four aspects of Arthur Millers utopian tragic hero; he possesses a tragic flaw, he is degraded by society, his surroundings seem to conspire against him, and despite his hardships he struggles against the world to maintain his dignity. Tragic heroes are often characterized because they bear a tragic flaw. Willys obvious tragic flaw is his pride. He takes pride in everything he does, he even says, Call out the name Willy Loman and see what happens!, just to display to his sons how much pride he takes in his name (Death 62). His lifelong dream was to live the life of a salesman and to die the death of a salesman, and for people to recognize his name everywhere that he traveled (Death 81). He struggles with the reality that he was unsuccessful in completing his dream, and refuses to stop trying. He becomes indignant with his piers when they try to explain that he was a failure, for example when he says, I am not a cripple! (Death 84). He is in a sense crippled by his neglection to see reality and only to believe what he perceives as reality in his mind. His tragic flaw is a major component of his ability to become a tragic hero. Willy Loman is aging and losing his mental stability. This is clear to many of the people in his environment. They begin to conceive him as useless and degrade him to a lower standard in society. Willy refuses to realize that he deserves nothing more than to be considered with the same respect as any regular man. Arthur Miller says that Tragedy is a consequence of a mans total compulsi...